The Lord Speaks of Peace to His People

Today's Mass Readings

One of the themes found in today’s readings is that of peace, God’s peace. This is most clearly seen today’s responsorial psalm, Psalm 85, where we read that the Lord proclaims peace “to his people, and to his faithful ones, and to those who put in him their hope.” And again, “justice and peace shall kiss.” The antiphon itself pertains to peace: “The Lord speaks of peace to his people.” We may not so easily find the theme of peace in the first reading from the Book of Judges, nor in virtually any other part of the Book of Judges, because Judges is arguably the most violent, gruesome, and chaotic book of the Bible. The Book of Judges is meant to show us what happens when people stop following God. Chaos and violence ensue. In today’s first reading from Judges, Gideon is frustrated because his people have been delivered up to the Midianites. He asks God why He has abandoned His people. God saved them from the Egyptians, so why has He abandoned them to the Midianites? God assures Gideon that He is with him through a sign and through the words spoken by the angel of the Lord. Gideon then feels reassured and constructs an altar to God, and names it Yahweh-shalom. Yahweh is God’s personal name revealed to Moses at Mount Sinai. Shalom is the Hebrew word for peace. In a sense, Gideon has named the altar to God, something like Yahweh peace, or God is peace. Indeed, God alone is the only one Who can bring true peace. This peace is not to be found in the period of the judges. There is a temporary peace found only under the later reign of Kings David and Solomon. Solomon (in Hebrew, Shlomo) of course comes from the same root as Shalom (since in Hebrew the consonants, in this case Sh L M, provide the noun’s basic structure) and likewise means something like peaceful. But true and lasting peace comes from God alone.

Today’s Gospel reading from Matthew seems not much more peaceful than Judges: it is difficult for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven; you have to give up everything, houses, brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, children, lands, for Jesus. The point remains the same. Jesus and His kingdom must remain first in our lives. Material wealth is often an obstacle to following God. Family, friends, homes, land, etc., can sometimes also be obstacles to following Jesus. We must remove any obstacles we have, so that, like Gideon and Peter, we too can experience God’s peace. And we must remember that God’s peace does not entail no suffering. We must pass through the suffering of the cross with Jesus in order to arrive at the peace of the resurrection.